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A site dedicated to discussing a variety of action & martial arts film entertainment. The written and expressive work of the author(s) of Film Combat Syndicate is/are protected by Copyright Law. To send us scoops or share your inquiries, email us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com.

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Martial arts action star Scott Adkins (Close Range)is ready to face the odds once more in the next installment of the Undisputed franchise, Boyka: Undisputed. It took a trailer teaser late last year to whet the appetites some for fans around the world while the new film had been slow to pass since Undisputed 3: Redemption fell to the woes of film piracy.

It's been a four-year journey for actor and filmmaker Dennis Ruel whose latest feature debut and currently one of our earlier five-a-day titles to bookmark in 2016, Unlucky Stars, has finally reached a new milestone since becoming an award-winning feat at the Action On Film Festival last year. The film is finally releasing on multiple digital HD and video-on-demand platforms on February 2, 2016, with availability on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, xBox and Vimeo VoD. Thus, a fresh new trailer has surfaced, sampling all you need if you love authentic martial arts action and comedy.

Much to my own chargin and in despite of director Camille Delamarre's efforts to shine a light on late actor Paul Walker's role in Brick Mansions last year, it left a bitter taste in my mouth and it really boils down to the action. We watch films like this with a huge spotlight planted on what's being mainly featured, here regarding the parkour sequences, and with director Daniel Benmayor's Tracers, I wasn't too sure I wanted to dip back into that particular subgenre lest I waste another two hours of my life on bad filmmaking. Low and behold, it's forgiveable these days that it takes anyone as long as it does to watch anything we're not familiar with. I didn't know from a hill of beans who Benmayor was or if he was really. capable of what was being sampled in the trailers. In large part, he is.

Provided that you're in tune with the Monday night Hit List every week or if you're subscribe to mulitfaceted filmmaker Logan Cross's Cross The Line, L.L.C. YouTube channel, chances are you might have come across his latest proof-of-concept, The Hunters: Betrayal. Cross and his cast and crew spent four hours rehearsing and seven hours filming the project, thus executing it into the shortfilm splendor you can now see at the bottom of this page, in case you missed it the first time around.

Fans of Park Chan-Wook may be delighted to learn that he'll be reportedly directing a live-action adaptation of the popular novel-turned-anime slate, Genocidal Organ. The Tracking Board writes that The Sean Daniel Company who is producing the film, is the latest to finally succeed toward a live-action adaptation after efforts from the now-bankrupt Manglobe and currently-running Geno Studio now working on an animated project with Shuko Murase directing for release later this year.

Are you ready for some more Liam Neeson action? Lionsgate has already set up The Picture Company's The Commuter since their acquisition last November from Studiocanal at the American Film Market, and judging by early reports, filming will soon begin in early 2016 if it hasn't already.

Director Joseph Kosinski's visual style of direction complements him greatly with works like Tron: Legacy in 2010 and the Tom Cruise sci-fi thriller, Oblivion. That said, it's not to conclusive how this will mingle with his latest venture, although it'll be interesting to witness.

Former President George W. Bush's Iraq War was a pretty damming event in world history, and one that still stings to this day in more ways than several. For the field of film, however, it's also great source material to magnify stories that would otherwise be overlooked in due time, and such a story belongs to whistleblower, Katherine Gun who is now the center of a new espionage thriller set to begin filming in the U.K. in May.

Variety brings word that actress Rebecca Ferguson is poised to star in the new sci-fi thriller, Life, for Skydance Pictures. Child 44 and Safe House helmer Daniel Espinosa is being tapped to direct the film from a script by Deadpool scribes Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick.

January had a few setbacks, but still kept me busy in the thick of a few things currently trending in the world of action cinema. Russian action star and award-winning bodybuilder Alexander Nevsky has proven relevant in that regard, having come under my radar in the last few years with the long-awaited release of his latest murder mystery thriller, Black Rose with actress Kristanna Loken. More to the point, it just so happens that Nevsky has become pretty big at home in Russia, and perhaps big enough that it has earned him the clout needed to grow as a film professional in acting, producing and even journalizing having become a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Bearing this in mind and still with Nevsky in his element working in action movies and mingling with the right people, I'd say Nevsky's prospects are looking quite good at this juncture. Operating via his Los Angeles-based Hollywood Storm production banner since 2007, he now has at least two more films sl…

Action star Dolph Lundgren is in prison a lot, lately. He's got three titles in 2016 which relatively take place behind bars in one form or another, one of them now in the form of director John Lyde's Riot.

There was once a time when Universal Studios and Relativity Media (the latter now titled Critical Content) was on deck to pursue a film adaptation of the popular toy, Stretch Armstrong. That time, of course, is long gone, but that doesn't count out its other possibilities.

Director Frank D'Angelo's latest venture into the supernatural with Sicilian Vampire comes on the heels of its film festival circulation last year. It's the fourth feature film from D'Angelo who hails from Canada where he wears different hats, including radio host and musician, here and now starring as a mafioso whose family getaway sees him turning into an evil bloodsucker.

China Central Television (English) has a new segment online that takes you behind the scenes of director Soi Cheang's new fantasy sequel, The Monkey King 2: 3D. The film has a local release slated for February 8 with China Lion already on deck for a slate of releases in North America, Canada and the U.K. before and after.

Travis Knight is taking his animation skillset to the forefront as director of the new stop-motion adventure, Kubo And The Two Strings from Laika and Focus Features. The latest trailer is now online following a teaser late last year and you can check it out below along with three new character posters ahead of the film's August 19 release.

It's been a while since we've seen some mind blowing Thai action with the late great Panna Rittikrai serving as the most exemplary figure in recent history with credits like the Ong Bak series and his last work, Vengeance Of An Assassin. The same goes for his explosive 2010 work of action fanfare, BKO: Bangkok Knockout, which gave co-star and actor Sumret Muangput a little bit of screentime to add to his resumè.

Filmmaker Dharmendra's 1990 action thriller, Ghayal, became an award-winning feat with actor Sunny Deol playing an ex-con on a mission to avenge his brother's death while clearing his name. Judging by the classic trailer, you could easily suggest a film like this made Deol the household name equivalent of guys like Stallone and Schwarzenegger (those more familiar here may feel free to educate me on this otherwise).

Author, screenwriter and filmmaker Xu Haofeng came full circle late last year with his newest martial arts drama, The Master. In it, the film sees actor Liao Fan in a role inspired primarily by one of three stories of Xu's 2013 anthology, "Hiding Behind The Blade" - the first two being The Sword Identity in 2011 and 2014's Arrow Arbitration (a.k.a. Judge Archer).

Speculate what you can between now and next summer. Marvel and Sony aren't pulling any punches this year with the prospects of getting a glimpse of actor Tom Holland in the role of Spider-Man for an upcoming reboot as of nearly a year ago, and as of Tuesday, both studios are making it official with an IMAX release date stamped to boot.

China Lion is releasing director Soi Cheang's newest, The Monkey King 2: 3D in select theaters on February 5 in North America and Canada with a U.K. release on February 12. That said, with the first film long stamped in film history as a box-office success apart from being a critical flop among some, you can imagine the sequel looks ready to ante things up a notch or two.

Martial artist and actor Alain Moussi will be making his feature debut later this year in Kickboxer: Vengeance from director John Stockwell. Before then, he will be making his online serial debut for the new digital miniseries, Street Fighter: Resurrection, which is premiering in March on go90 from Machinima.

With Russian director Ilya Naishuller making headway with Hardcore Henry this Spring in the U.S., you have to wonder about the state of filmmaking via first-person cinematography. You're not wrong to suggest it's become quite popular nowadays as the last few years have seen a few people in film pick up the habit, which now leaves us with The Scribbler helmer John Suits's newest venture, Pandemic.

My weekend started off as a bust on Saturday with that hugely ridic blizzard. The snow here was treacherous and almost impossible and with work in between, I've found myself putting this Hit List together late in the evening.

Actor Kiefer Sutherland was on the road with father and actor Donald Sutherland late last year to promote his latest western pic, Forsaken. At the time, he made it pretty clear following Fox's renewal announcement of the hit series, 24, that he was done with the show, which left things in the air as to who would replace him.

Focus World is bringing into focus, writerAndy Lieberman's latest script now erected in helmer Peter Billingsley's father daughter crime actioner, Term Life. The film arrives on March 1 via VoD and Digital HD with a theatrical opening on April 8, and with it, an exceptional cast of well-knowns led by Vince Vaughn and actrees Haile Steinfeld who you would almost swear was in a similar predicament in a McG pic once upon a time. Hm.

2011 saw ample opportunity for independent director and Planet Nerd Rage Productions founder Mark Cheng to leave an impression for the Hasbro fanbase, and so he did upon the release of G.I. Joe fan film, Operation: Red Retreival. Fast forward to 2016 and with the blessing of G.I. Joe creator and comic book auteur Larry Hama, Cheng is back once again with his latest in-house original testament to futuristic action and cyberpunk sci-fi, Ghost Source Zero.

At long last, we are approximately two months away from the release of director Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. A fourth trailer is now online while Warner Bros. continues its push with several TV spots and a clip of which we can expect more in the remaining weeks.

Shailene Woodley and Theo James are reigning supreme as one of the biggest screen couples to date with the impact they've left thusfar with the Divergent movies. They're back once more with Robert Schwentke at the helm for for the third installation, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, and accordingly for the young-adult crowd while boasting some great visuals and spectacle to accommodate the story that centers on our two rebels and their friends as they go beyond the wall that once held them for so many years.

It's of no fault of your own if you weren't too impressed by the most recent event trailer late last year for Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. That said, the TV spots seem to be earning a bit more praise as solely focusing on our key characters played respectively by Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill without divulging too much as the rest of it is mainly suggestive.

It certainly bodes well that 24 and 24: Live Another Day series helmer Jon Cassar reunited with actor Kiefer Sutherland for their latest, Forsaken. Reviews have been mixed but otherwise upworthy for the film's overall enjoyment since making the festival rounds last year and now we have a theatrical and VoD release date stamped for Feburary 19 courtesy of Momentum, and not for nothing in case you've been pining for another father-and-son pairing with Donald Sutherland also starring, then Forsaken may be just what the doctor ordered.

Eva helmer and Goya Award-winning director Kike Maíllo is making his return this Spring with the new Spanish crime thriller, Toro. Rafael Cobos and Fernando Navarro penned the script which centers its suspenseful story in the span of seven years following a fatal and botched robbery.

Director Lee Tamahori's 2005 actioner, xXx: State Of The Union, wasn't something I caught onto right away when it was released following Rob Cohen's xXx in 2002. Point in fact, I completely dropped the ball even as it arrived on VHS and DVD over the years; It was one of those movies I never got around to.

Director J.C. Chandor's 80's-set 2014 crime drama, A Most Violent Year, didn't carry a lot of weight at the box office, a primarily unfair fact given its heavy support among critics by and large. That said, fans of Chandor's work can expect more in the coming year with updates pending for his next venture, The Robber, based on author Martin Prinz's Austrian 2002 novel and subsequent 2010 adaptation with director and co-writer Benjamin Heisenberg.

Director Goo Mo's latest sophmore work, Musudan, is now on par for a February release. The film does echo Mo's previous work but nonetheless now arrives with a teaser that ought to lend something exciting for the suspense thriller niche.

Well Go USA is more than happy to oblige anyone with an affinity toward films of the Asian and action variety. Such is their speciality with their resumé including imports like the Police Story: Lockdown, Flash Point, Kundo, the upcoming home releases of Mojin: The Lost Legend and Roy Chow's refurbished Wong Fei-Hung origin epic, Rise Of The Legend and this weekend's release of Ip Man 3 to name a few.

Sony Pictures has been working toward a cinematic reboot centered on classic hero character, He-Man for sometime now. Efforts date as far back as 2007 as rumors swarmed the internet and the film's ownership changed hands to Colombia Pictures via Sony with G.I. Joe: Retaliation helmer Jon M. Chu's name once circles to direct.

With news and updates slow to pass for the upcoming martial arts reboot, Kickboxer: Vengeance, I suppose we'll take what we can get at this point. The film is definitely on par for arrival this year with the goal of attaining a sequel with martial artist and stunt performer Alain Moussi making his acting debut opposite Dave Bautista in the first film. For this, we have a new promotional teaser poster which you can below.

Director Roy Chow's 2014 Once Upon A Time In China reboot, Rise Of The Legend, was warmly received by a number of viewers upon its local release at the time. Personally, it is also one that has fascinated me since Universal Pictures International acquired the rights to the film nearly a year-and-a-half ago, so I've been curious about it not having seen it myself apart from a number of others who may have already imported their own DVD copies from overseas.

Netflix is probably the likely medium where people have grown fond of actor Benedict Wong as of late. Aside from starring in films like last year's space epic The Martian and in Steven DeKnight's Redemption with Jason Statham, the actor came to fruition in 2014 when he commanded the role of Kublai Khan in the hit series, Marco Polo.

Hong Kong cinema saw a bit of a sea-change in the past decade, specifically with the release of the 2005 crime thriller, Sha Po Lang. The film, also starring Simon Yam, Wu Jing and Sammo Hung, would mark the first of a four-film journey between action star Donnie Yen and director Wilson Yip as the former would commence the next level of his craft into the world of MMA-branded fight choreography.

It's been a minute since Comedy Central last saw Key & Peele duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele back together in a skit. The two comedy auteurs ended their Comedy Central run last year while still planning out other opportunities in film and entertainment, and much to their benefit with helmer Peter Atencio for the upcoming action comedy, Keanu, with just the right amount of surprises to help make their big screen stint an impressing one.

French helmer Nicolas Benamou made headway in 2014 with his French comedy franchise, Babysitting, and its sequel is also a hit as of late last year. This, much to his credit, has set him on the path to something slightly different with the new road action dramedy, Full Speed, with backing by Marci Cherqui’s Chic Films and Thomas Langmann's Oscar-winning La Petite Reine.

Martial arts action star, actor Tony Jaa has had an amazing year so far. His latest venture into Hollywood with actor Vin Diesel in James Wan's Furious Seven in April of 2015 became a billion dollar success, further setting the tone of his career growth next to his starring role alongside Dolph Lundgren in Skin Trade that same month.

I've been back and fourth on multilinguist and multifaceted actor, stuntman, filmmaker and fight choreographer Umar Khan's YouTube channel for a few years now. It's loaded with reels and highlights of his training and work as a martial artist and stunt performer working his way up, and all which are clearly working to his benefit to date.

His efforts in past year have granted him the necessary credentials, tools and people necessary to help fulfill his goals of becoming a top-tier action director in the film industry, and with more growth to come in film and television. I have to say, it's rare for me to meet someone like Khan of his caliber who happens to have a team of his own that is just beginning, and having seen what's out there from other groups I've witnessed in the last decade along with sampling a bit of what Khan has been up to, I have some high hopes.

I had the opportunity and pleasure to share an email chat with him about his endeavors as of late, …

If you've been waiting for a sequel to Terminator: Genisys next year, sorry to burst your bubble. Deadline and various trades sites are now saying the film has been pulled from its May 19, 2017 slot with Seth Gordon's Baywatch film adaptation taking its place.

Director Rob Cohen was once the hopeful to direct a few films in the past three years, including a remake of Road House now set to shoot this April and Fast 8 which starts later this year. Both are now in the care of different directors, but this also leaves Cohen available for something else waiting in the wings for a Spring/Summer shoot.

Director Rian Johnson has a huge task on his hands...about $1.8+ billion dollars worth. That's the figure reportedly earned by J.J. Abrams for his latest, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which pretty much broke almost every record you can probably imagine after opening last month in the U.K. and U.S..

China censorship does have its hardships for some productions as of late, but news of proactivity over at te State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) is worthy of noting if you're a fan of Asian cinema. Moreover, can largely thank China Media Capital Holdings on that end as they begin spearheading a new venture with distributors at China Lion to target domesitic releases to audiences in up to 100 cities abroad over a period of time.

Director Won Shin Yeon has a new murder thriller coming soon this year called A Murderers Guide To Memorization. It's got a great plot and I'm glad I finally got to sample his directing chops with Well Go USA's The Suspect starring Gong Yoo.

Most Read Articles Of The Week

EXCLUSIVE: Emerging director, actor and martial artist Vincent Soberano is hot on the campaign trail for his current film slate this week in Beijing. With at least two of his upcoming releases now privately showcasing in Beijing for an audience comprised of major Hollywood and Chinese industry executives and distributors therein, it's a milestone to marvel at with Soberano now hailing as the first Filipino director to be privy to a screening of this kind.

Not for nothing either, as the footage speaks for itself and those who've seen last year's teaser trailer for Blood Hunters: Rise Of The Hybrids would likely stand in accordance. Since then, the eight-time world Muay Thai champion's craft behind the lens has only continued to grow and with none other than latest of one of the aforementioned two titles now readying for a local theatrical release this May with martial arts revenge thriller, The Trigonal: Fight For Justice. An underground fighting circuit run by an intern…

EXCLUSIVE: Muay Thai champion and emerging film multi-hyphenate, actor Vincent Soberano is on deck to add to his directing repetoire with least two big-budget films going forward: Action-packed high-seas military/naval techno-thriller, No Man's Waters, and romantic action comedy, Three Poles. The films will hail from Soberano's Cinefenio Film Studios, designated as co-productions with Origin Pictures Beijing, and a South Korean production company with the Philippines serving as a major production location with local film crews to be hired.
The news comes in the wake of a robust week for the Filipino filmmaker whose business in Beijing saw him host screenings for his two recently-completed titles, tournament revenge action thriller The Trigonal, and dystopian survival novel adaptation, We Are War. Both were showcased for a rousing audience of major distrubutors and executives, adding to a growing list of career milestone 'firsts' for a Filipino filmmaker, his latest de…

As expected, films like Blood Hunters: Rise Of The Hybrids and The Trigonal won't be the last we hear from director and actor Vincent Soberano. The emerging film talent on both sides of the lens is now taking an even greater stage in recent days with his work now central to the attention of a number of industry figures, one of which enlists his latest thriller, We Are War.
The film takes its cues from the work of writer and author Ruben Payan Jr. for a film set in 2029 as world governments collapse, and remnants of military might are deployed to Japan to seize control and ownership of what little remains of the world's purest natural resource: water. Soberano stars and is also joined by Liang Shih and Death Trance co-star Chuck Johnson.
Other news is seldom known about the film other than what we get to see with the earliest artwork, in addition to a first trailer which stops nothing short of impressive and as thrilling as one would hope for an actioner. It's a stirring …

Action star Sakaguchi Tak's Re:Born still stands as important subject matter of late. His forthcoming appearance at the Iron Dragon TV Action Fest this August is still a headturner and with none other than helmer longtime film partner, stunt multi-hyphenate and film director Shimomura Yuji joining him for the impeding festivities in Austin.
Many topics are sure to come up for curious onlookers as the film marks a stellar return to cinema for the cult favorite who shook the fandom with talk of retirement back in 2013. As it stands, that sudden pivot arose as a result of a dissolving toxic fallout with previous management which apparently forced Sakaguchi's career nearly into obscurity at the time, which makes Re:Born a more than welcome reception at home and overseas.
Moreover, fans can now possibly look toward the talk of Shimomura's latest acquisition, Crazy Musashi, designated as a 77-minute one-take film previously hailed as a pairing with film favorite Sono Sion unde…

The second season of Marvel's Jessica Jones was a great escape for the weekend. I'd also add Starz series, Spartacus and Korean miniseries Tong: Memories to the list. Matters pertaining to this week's entries for The Hit List were all the same and very much entertaining, stunt reels, projects and teasers therein.
The first of the three kicks off our weekly amalgam of gems as always and now with the stylings of stuntman Cameron Okubo, followed by Michael Bekemeier, Adam Shippey, Jonathan King, Heather Bonomo, Justin Fischer, Brandon Shaw, Justin Clarke, Jose Guns Alves, Kylie Riddle, Skyler Mowatt and stunt sibs David and Daren Nop showcasing their latest pairing in a work reel of their own. Rounding out the playlist in riproaring fashion with substance AND style are Bill Scharpf, and in good company with the forthcoming release of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood!

Time to promote some things for you and first up are a trio of stills hailing ex…

Last year proved opportune with Southeast Asian regional VOD service HOOQ's in-house Filmmakers' Guild hosting an annual program for aspiring creatives. For this, leave it to Ario Sagantorio, noted producer of The Raid franchise, to invest in shepherding what would ultimately land as a HOOQ finalist with director Bobby Prabowo at the helm for his latest series investment, Heaven And Hell.
Actor Aufa Assagaf headlines a cast set in a tale of a man caught in a gang war with his father's life hanging in the balance and only one way to rise to the top of it all. Such is the narrative that joins Assagaf with Halfworlds series actress Salvita Decorte, and The Raid 2 co-stars Donny Alamsyah and Mike Lucock with a script by Eric Tiwa, and now accompanied in recent hours with a full minute teaser promo for the pilot which will air only on HOOQ at the end of next week throughout Southeast Asia.
Take a look below!

Fans of independent action cinema keen on following figures like stunt professionals Mitch Gould and Dan Southworth were rightly onto something since both appeared together in Isaac Florentine's U.S. Seals 2: The Ultimate Force. Both have flourished in the years since then in their crafts behind the lens and thus attributing their work now seen in Gould's solo directorial debut, Battle Drone, finally hitting Netflix and serving up a worthy piece of entertainment for select streaming audiences and action fans alike.
Bleach-blonde Louis Mandylor leads the sci-fi thriller as seasoned solider Rekker, a former military captain-turned-gun for hire whose dishonorable departure from the formalities of military service have all but re-calibrated his worldview and moral compass with more-than-enough shades of grey. His means of income enlists his employment with his own team of equally-skilled badass mercenaries to get off-the-radar jobs done for the CIA, no matter how dirty.
Actress D…

Select cast and crew members of upcoming action thriller, The Order, took to YouTube on Friday to give fans an update on the crowdfunded and hotly-anticipated feature length film. The video comes nearly two years since the production launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to give the production the right jumpstart it needed prior to further development that would have hopefully seen cameras rolling by now. I'll leave it to you to watch the video for all the T's and I's otherwise crossed and dotted, but the gist of it is that according to actress and executive producer Karan Ashley, the team reportedly did everything by the book to see its house in order only to see their efforts cut short. A forced shutdown of the film ensued along with legal fees among other addenums that took a chunk out of the budget. Ashley does alert fans that this doesn't mark the end-all-be-all of the film's journey, with word that the film has since been in recovery mode as the team co…

Here's something to ponder this weekend: What lies ahead for Beyond Skyline director Liam O'Donnell with his next adventure? Such is cause to bring attention to The Last Savage for which O'Donnell's script was one of the three main winners during the IFFAM Project Market late last year curated by Todd Brown.
The synopsis alone reads plentily of what looks to be as spectacular a jungle survival revenge thriller that may very well read your mind of familiar movie titles before long. The director's own statement at the time also lends to that very notion next to the following premise and needless to say, if you're of my mind, I already know that you know you want this movie too. A cataclysmic flood leaves a boy stranded on a remote island where he’s raised by a family of tigers into Buas, a lethal savage. But Peyton, a high-tech hunter arrives and kills his adopted family before bringing the captured Buas to The Rig, an overpopulated steel island built atop drowne…

Independent film has always been a sprawling and vast field to cover. It's network is always in flux with various people connecting with others and collaborating; Following the work of Fernando Jay Huerto eventually brought me to the likes of actress, martial artist and musician, Jessica Wolff, who has shown immense screen caliber in numerous projects she's worked on. Such include sci-fi actioner, Fray and bloody revenge thriller, Eliza, the latter which staunchly remains one of the biggest jewels I've ever helped promote despite its current myopia. Its helmer, fellow Asian cinephile, Mikko Löppönen stands significantly as one of the best examples of contemporary action cinema today even in his current form. He's practical in his approach though, and quite modest despite having as much an interest as any passionate filmmaker. His vocation in action films came seldom with his own screentime than behind the lens, favorably. Primary visits to to the local video store and ab…